Looking to purchase an older model excavator to build a road and pad sites on 80 acres of mountain side property at 11,000 feet. What are some models around $15,000 to $20,000 range I should consider? I restored a Case 1845c skidsteer for this property and it turned out amazing. Not afraid to do some restorative work on a machine but also want something with a reputation for reliability and quality. We will be moving boulders, cutting into the mountain side and leveling with this unit to build an off grid camp ground with cabins. Won't be daily use. Any suggestions on make model. Looking for 90s and above.
I think for a early 90s and newer machine your expectations for $15-$20,000 may be a bit high, and something that cheap from the early to mid 90s will probably be beaten to death. I would look for an older Mitsubishi excavator, like a model 120,180, or 240 machine, those machines were built incredibly well and were incredibly durable especially with some regular maintenance. Caterpillar bought them out in the mid to late 80s, and I believe will still support them with parts. You just need to keep an eye on the swing bearing and make sure it doesn’t have play in it. It probably makes sense to look for an older cat machine as well, like a model 215 or 225, I believe they were also very durable machines and if they had regular maintenance should have held up fairly well. The regular maintenance part is going to be key with anything you look at…
I recently sold a grey market cat E70B that might have been suitable for you. It had a thumb which is extremely useful for road building where timber is involved. But it had rails so worn I had to remove a link and the final drive motors so weak I had to use the bucket to move uphill sometimes. I got 18K for it. That said, I agree with Tags that you will have difficulty finding what you need in that price range. You could probably rent a 308 sized cat with blade and thumb for around 2500 a week (40 hours) and get a lot of work done. Big disadvantage to renting is having to do all the work in that time frame. Are there trees on the hillside?
Yes there are trees. The land is in the mountains so rental is difficult. We're hoping to buy so we can use as needed without the time constraint. Thanks for the input from both of you!
When you build road up the side of a mountain, the trees and rootwads slow your progress. A thumb on the excavator makes a big difference. Mark the path with an inclinometer. When you go through rocky areas, mark it a little lower, it will be easier to push soft material into them later than trying to cut through the rock again to lower it. The objective is to make steady grade all the way so you don't have to play catch-up and make steep areas that you'll hate later. If there are any switchbacks try to put them on finger ridges and don't try to make grade going through a switch back. Use topo maps to plan ahead. You can see the contours and the distances and figure your grade beforehand. You will see you need X feet of road distance per 40 foot contour at a given grade. Usually mountain road builders use an excavator and a dozer. The excavator should be 20 tons or more if possible, you need the reach. The dozer keeps the excavator accessible for fuel trucks and repairs, bucking logs, also he makes way for log trucks to remove any timber.